


Family Planning

by watcherofworlds



Category: Arrow (TV 2012)
Genre: Pre-Episode: s04e01 Green Arrow
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-17
Updated: 2019-07-17
Packaged: 2020-06-29 23:32:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,238
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19840831
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/watcherofworlds/pseuds/watcherofworlds
Summary: An unexpected late night phone call from her brother leads Thea to involvement in a plan to expand their family by one and reflections on their family history





	Family Planning

Stepping into the apartment she shared with Laurel, Thea leaned back against the door and sighed, forcing the tension from her shoulders. After a day spent trying to get Verdant up and running again and a night spent engaged in more futile Ghost hunting, she was ready to drop. She’d barely had the energy to remember to change out of her suit before coming home for the night.

Mindful of waking Laurel, who had called it a night early because she, unlike the rest of them, had a real job she had to get up for the next day, Thea slowly and carefully toed her shoes off and crept down the hall. She had just reached the safe haven of the living room when her phone started to ring. A startled breath hissed out from between her teeth, and she frantically thumbed the volume down button until her phone was just vibrating in her grip. Then and only then did she look to see who was calling. The moment she did, she felt her exhaustion immediately fade.

“Hey Ollie,” she said, as brightly as she could manage while still keeping her voice low. “What’s up?” In the back of her mind, she wondered why he was calling so late-there wasn’t a time difference between Star City and Ivy Town, so it wasn’t like it was morning for him or something. Still, she always liked hearing from him, no matter the time of day or the circumstances.

“Do you have Mom’s engagement ring?” Oliver asked. His voice was quiet, and it occurred to Thea that she wasn’t the only one of the two of them who had to be careful not to wake their housemate. 

“In storage somewhere, probably, but yes,” she said. “Why?”

“Could you send it to me?” Oliver asked. There was a taut, nervous edge to his voice now, and Thea could faintly hear the thump of bare feet on hardwood flooring in the background of the call. Oliver must have been pacing. He tended to do that when he had nervous energy he needed to work out.

“Sure,” she said in answer to his question. “But what do you need it for?” There was a moment of silence, then Oliver asked “What do people usually need engagement rings for, Speedy?” with just a hint of exasperation in his tone.

“Oh my God,” Thea gasped when it finally sunk in. It took a supreme effort of will  _ not _ to shout. She could barely contain her excitement. “You’re- oh my God.” She took a moment to compose herself, then said, “I’m at home right now, and Laurel’s asleep, so I’m not really somewhere I can properly freak out about this at the moment. Give me like ten minutes, and we’ll talk more. 

“Okay,” Oliver said, sounding slightly amused, and then Thea ended the call, eager to pick it back up again in a few minutes.

“Tell me everything,” Thea said exactly ten minutes later, sitting in twenty-four hour cafe not far from the apartment. She heard Oliver's intake of breath on the other end of the line as he prepared to speak, and, forgetting herself for a moment, she interjected with, "Before you start, just know that this is the best news I've heard in months." Oliver chuckled softly, then launched into a description of his plans, how he was going to put his newly acquired cooking skills to use to make a fancy dinner, and how the proposal itself was going to take place during dessert. He told her that he'd even gotten his neighbors in on it, to help him with both the initial planning and the final preparations. As she listened, Thea felt a grin spread across her face. A warm glow of happiness suffused her. She hadn't seen Oliver and Felicity together very much, save for a little bit before they'd left Star City, but even from that she could see how happy being with Felicity made her brother, and she was glad to know that he was taking a step toward making that happiness more permanent. She was even more glad to have a role in that, however small. 

“I’m so happy for you,” she said aloud. “You deserve every happiness, Ollie, and I’m so glad that you’re going out there and getting it for yourself.”

“You seem pretty excited about this,” Oliver remarked in reply.

“What, you couldn’t tell?” Thea shot back, mock surprised. The two siblings laughed together for a moment, slipping back into old, familiar patterns as easily as if it had been days since they’d last spoken, not months.

“Anyway,” Thea said once their laughter had died out, “it’ll probably take me a while to find Mom’s ring, since I’m going to have to take a deep dive into the storage unit where it’s being kept, but I’ll send it your way as soon as I can.”

“Thanks Speedy,” Oliver said softly, his voice laced with gratitude and affection. 

“You’re welcome,” Thea replied. “I’m happy to help.” 

“I’d better be invited to the wedding,” she added a moment later in a half scolding tone. There was no doubt in her mind that Felicity would say yes. She simply could not imagine any other outcome.

“Of course,” Oliver replied, and Thea could hear the smile in his voice. “I wouldn’t have it any other way. Thanks again.”

“You’re welcome,” Thea said. “See you soon?”

“Hopefully,” Oliver replied, and that was that. Thea slid her phone into her pocket and headed for home, feeling giddy with excitement and anticipation.

The next day found her kneeling on the concrete floor of the storage unit where the few family possessions she and Walter had managed to save were kept, holding a small cardboard box in her lap. She took a deep, steadying breath, as she hadn’t so much as glanced at the contents of the box in almost two years, then slowly and carefully opened it up. Inside were the dozen or so framed photographs that used to sit on a table in the entrance hall of their home, and the small velvet box that she remembered her mother always kept on her vanity. For a moment, Thea found herself lost in a memory of her mother pulling her into her lap when she was small and showing her the contents of the box.

“Your father gave me this when he asked me to marry him,” she’d told her, “and someday”- she poked Thea gently in the shoulder- “when the time comes, I’m going to give it to your brother so that he can do the same with the woman he decides he wants to marry.”

A sob burst out of Thea, jolting her free of the memory, at the thought that her mother wouldn’t get to witness that moment that she had so long hoped for, hadn’t lived to see the happiness that Oliver had found with Felicity. She put a hand over her mouth to stifle it before she started full on crying.

_ Happy thoughts _ , she told herself.  _ Good things are about to happen. Remember that.  _ After taking another minute to compose herself, she slipped the ring box into her pocket and replaced the cardboard box full of photographs where she’d found it. Then she left the storage unit, locking it up behind her and heading for home, ready to initiate the next step in this adventure in family planning.


End file.
